


the good of birthday parties

by winryrockbae



Series: FelixWeek2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Birthday, Felixweek, Gen, felixbdayweek, felixweek2020, i decided to split up my felix week fics because this is how i post all my prompt weeks, there must be order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23106400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winryrockbae/pseuds/winryrockbae
Summary: A collection of prompts put together for Felix's birthday week, I'm begging you to validate me.Day One: BirthdayFelix, usually so solitary, finds that he actually might enjoy the company of his classmates on very rare occasions.
Series: FelixWeek2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660825
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9
Collections: Felix Birthday Week 2020





	the good of birthday parties

**Pegasus Moon, Day 20.**

He didn’t tell the professor it was his birthday. He made sure no one else brought it up. 

**Harpstring Moon, Day 9.**

His training was interrupted by a celebration. Mercedes had been the one to arrive at the training grounds, older than him and infuriatingly unbothered by his prickly words she was able to persuade him to put down the training sword for a short while. In her words, it would mean quite a bit to Annie if the entire class was there. And in not so many words, Felix was certain that he heard a vague threat in her words if anything were to upset her friend on her birthday. 

“Come on Felix, you can get back to being lonesome after you spend some time with your classmates.” Mercedes looped her arm through his, indifferent when he jerked away and let his arms hang by his sides in defeat. “Believe it or not, there is more to life than swinging a sword.” Had it been anyone else, someone with a voice not quite as melodic or a disposition not so easily swayed, Felix may have snapped back with a less than witty retort about how frivolous everyone truly is. 

Despite his initial displeasure about being dragged away from the training grounds, Felix found himself enjoying the change of scenery. He didn’t sing happy birthday or eat any sweets, but it was nice to exist in an atmosphere that wasn’t quite so heavy. Watching Sylvain get a piece of cake shoved into his face by a disgruntled Ingrid made it worth the time Felix spent there. Even Dedue, usually so stoic, cracked a smile as Annette opened her present from the class. Felix didn’t see what it was from his place lingering on the outskirts, but it had to have been something good due to the way she profusely thanked anyone within earshot. 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” The professor had appeared next to him, their eyes rested curiously on his features. 

“It’s just a birthday, everyone has them. It’s not a big deal.” 

“Nothing is a big deal, unless you make it that.” 

**Harpstring Moon, Day 27.**

“Felix, bring that tray over here.” 

He had been foolish to make such a bet with his professor. Overconfidence had been his enemy when they leveled their training blades at one another and a small smirk quicked up the corner of the professor’s mouth. 

“If I beat you, then you put down the training blade and help me with my tasks for the day. If you win, you don’t have to come to class all week.” 

The professor had never made a bet on their matches before, Felix wondered if his improvement had been so monumental that the professor decided to make it more interesting. With an excited start he had accepted, only to be soundly beaten within moments. The amount of time it took the professor to disarm him was humiliating and rage-inducing, leading Felix to wonder if his mentor’s true strength had been hidden in all their previous matches. It left him distracted as he held up his end of their deal. 

“What are we doing anyway?” Felix grumbled. He ignored how loudly the tray clattered when he dropped it where the professor was pointing. 

“Setting up for Mercede’s birthday party.” 

“We just had a birthday party.” 

“For Annette. And like you said before, everyone has birthdays.” 

The rest of the preparation was spent in relative silence, the two of them working to set up the area while Dedue and Ashe dipped in and out with food and treats fresh from the kitchens. “Okay, last thing is the tablecloth. Help me with it.” The two of them smoothed the fabric over the old wooden table. Without a word, Felix started straight backed towards the door with the intent to disappear before the rest of the class arrived. “You’re staying.” 

“I have-” 

“You have to keep your healer happy. And she wants everyone here.” 

It was hard to argue with that and shortly afterwards all the others arrived and Mercedes was surprised with the decorations that Felix had been duped into helping with. There was spicy food this time, and Felix found himself not hating a second birthday party. 

**Garland Moon, Day 5.**

Felix was well aware that Sylvain’s birthday was approaching long before the actual date. Even if he didn’t remember it from childhoods spent together in Faerghus, his redheaded classmate was anything but subtle about his wishes for his special day. 

“Felix, you’re going to come to the pub with me and meet some girls!” Sylvain would chatter on, his arm slung around the shorter Lion’s shoulder while carelessly bearing his weight down on Felix. And every time the conversation arose, Felix would hiss and snarl like a cat being forced into a bath while batting Sylvain away from him. 

“I will not be going.” 

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” 

And Felix would turn on his heel, leaving Sylvain wheedling after him. He thought that would be the end of it. 

But, the day arrived as it was always sure to and Felix found Sylvain to be far more annoying than usual. Sylvain took to peering at him with puppy dog eyes throughout the day. Gaze boring into the back of his head in class, distracting him during training and making mealtime far more awkward than it needed to be. Finally in the afternoon while stripping down and getting ready for some time in the sauna with a set of eyes fixed on him, Felix broke. 

“If I go out with you for one hour, will you stop following me around like a stray dog?” 

“Felix, you’re a true friend!” Sylvain clapped a large hand on Felix’s bare shoulder and tactfully ignored the way Felix instinctually dropped his shoulder to get Sylvain’s hand off. “We’ll meet you at the gate later.” 

“Yeah, now get out and let me relax.” It was hard to relax, despite the warmth and solitude of the sauna, with the impending evening ahead of him. He wasn’t one for big social gatherings and he especially wasn’t interested in picking up the type of girls that Sylvain thought he was sneaking back into his room at night.

He stayed true to his word, no matter how reluctant it had been, and Felix was the last one to arrive at the gates in the evening. Dimiti was deep in conversation with Dedue about something when he arrived and Sylvain had an arm around Ashe’s shoulders, assuring him they’d find him a cute girl during the evening. He was surprised to see that Ashe and Dedue were there as well, but more people was probably better - easier to slip away sooner. 

“Now that we’re all here, let’s go!” Sylvain was practivally dragging poor Ashe along. Felix didn’t feel particularly bad for his classmate, if he didn’t like it he could just speak up and tell Sylvain to release him. It seemed as though Sylvain were familiar with the streets, heading towards the pub was seemingly second nature to him as he hardly paid any mind to the twists and turns in town. It seemed that he had prepared his regular place for his birthday, as the serving girls with their chests spilling out of their dresses greeted him sweetly and immediately showed them to a table towards the back of the place. 

They’d hardly gotten settled when mugs of dark ale were placed in front of them, Dimitri raising his for a toast. “Happy birthday, Sylvain. And many more!” 

A chorus of ‘and many more’ rose from their group as well as the surrounding tables and the serving girls who were bringing them warm pretzels and sliced sausages. The night was nothing like Felix anticipated it would be, he thought that he’d be in the middle of a crowded bar with strangers and whores on either side of him, while watching Sylvain try to hit on anything with legs and tits. Instead he was seated comfortably between Sylvain and Ashe as the five of them ate the food that kept coming and sipped at the drinks that didn’t seem to get any lower. It was pleasant, albeit a bit noisy and Sylvain was too touchy - slinging his arm across Felix and Dimitri’s shoulders every couple of minutes despite the way Felix wordlessly removed it several times. 

He lost track of time around the time he stopped pulling Sylvain’s arm off of him, quietly accepting that it wasn’t worth the effort. His cheeks felt warm and he felt more releaxed, most likely attributed to the ale he’d been drinking all evening. Dimitri and Sylvain had red cheeks, the two of them laughing loudly with one another while Dedue watched the prince carefully. Felix doubted Dedue even took more than a sip of his own drink, though closer inspection would reveal the very tip of his nose was pink. Ashe on the other hand was red faced and laughing at nothing and underneath the initial disgust, Felix couldn’t help but be amused. 

They closed the place down that evening, Felix’s plans to slip away were forgotten as he sat wedged between his classmates. That evening, Dedue carried poor Ashe home while Dimitri and Felix each supported Sylvain under one of his arms while he mumbled about the best birthday ever. 

Felix wouldn’t go that far, but it hadn’t been that terrible. 

**Verdant Moon, Day 31.**

It was hard to celebrate a birthday while they were traveling for a mission, but Felix would be damned if the professor didn’t pull it off. Dedue’s birthday was simple and despite the way he had insisted that they don’t celebrate it, Dimitri and Mercedes had been insistient that they do something for him to show he they all cared. 

The celebrated in camp that morning, Dimitri and Dedue disappearing for firewood while the rest of them scrambled to put together a nice breakfast while pulling his present from the professor’s ever growing pack. The prince and his vassal returned to a spread of assorted pastries on a blanket, while Ashe cooked the bacon and sausages over the fire. Felix helped him, scooping the sizzling meat onto a tray when it was done. The energy in the camp was light, Mercedes and Annette had decorated with flowers placed between the plates. The finishing touch was Ingrid tying the bow on the watering can the professor had chosen, leaving it in the middle of their breakfast picnic. 

It wasn’t much, but it was just enough for Dedue. Felix noticed how the professor took the time to tailor each party towards each of her students. He hadn’t wanted much, so the professor settled for breakfast and a gift rather than a party like the girls had gotten or the night out Sylvain had requested. 

Despite being right before a mission, everyone was in good spirits and the food was good. Maybe birthdays were growing on him a bit. 

**Wyvern Moon, Day 17.**

“Felix, what are you doing?” The professor looked up from arranging colorful cookies on a tray. 

He knew that it was Ashe’s birthday today and after seeing the way everyone had come together for Dedue’s surprise breakfast with their own tasks, Felix could only come to the conclusion that they had all planned it and not entrusted him with any piece of it. “I was on my way to train. You looked like you needed help.” A pathetic lie, as there wasn’t much done just yet. After all, his professor, the ashen demon, had just been doing nothing in particular apart arranging cookies. Felix’s pride couldn’t weaken enough for him to say that he was there to help, but he could only pray that his professor understood. 

“Oh, I have it covered here. Go on and train then.” His professor dismissed him and Felix felt the sting of disappointment. He should be relieved that he’s not expected to take time out of his day for something as pointless as a birthday, but he wasn’t. “And Felix - take Ashe with you, yeah? He needs some extra training, I’d say he needs to train for two hours today. Then the two of you can come meet me over here and let me know how it went.” 

Felix understood without question and without explanation he found Ashe and dragged him to the training ground and tossed him a wooden blade. Two hours was the least of the training that Ashe needed with the blade, despite it being his birthday Felix didn’t go easy on him. Just because it was his birthday didn’t mean that he could afford to be weak and ineffectual in his training. By the time they were done, Ashe’s fingers were black and blue, covered with cuts and bruises that Felix had mercilessly given him at nearly every opportunity. His footwork had gotten better, but perhaps he wasn’t meant to wield a blade. 

“Ow, ow, ow.” Ashe flexed his fingers as the two of them left the training grounds, Felix looking at his classmate with satisfaction. He had done his part for the archer’s birthday and now Ashe would get to be surprised by the rest of their class. “The Professor is not going to be happy with my progress today.” It didn’t seem as though Ashe was expecting anything anyway, as told by the way his face dropped even more when Felix insisted they go report their training to the professor before they went to dinner. “Let’s go quickly so I can visit the sauna before bed.” 

“Sure.” Always a man of few words, Felix didn’t see any reason to get talkative now. Instead he led Ashe towards the place his professor was setting up the dinner party. When he opened the door and everyone yelled surprise, he couldn’t help but offer the tiniest of smiles along with Ashe. 

**Ethereal Moon, Day 20.**

He anticipated that Dimitri’s birthday would be the most celebrated of all. Despite being a Boar, he was their house leader and the Crown Prince of Faerghus was sure to have quite the celebration. However, lingering around the professor didn’t seem to yield any hints about what would be happening. 

His pride cracked when he asked about it. “Is there anything happening today?” 

“Dimitri asked that we keep it quiet, he doesn’t want much of a celebration.” 

“That’s not what I was asking about.” Felix snapped, but they both knew it was a lie. 

“There’s a fishing tournament and the dining hall is serving warm cider.” The professor continued, listing off the events of the day that Garreg Mach had going on for it’s students. It was probably for the best anyway, Felix didn’t think he could stand celebrating Dimitri when he was the only one who knew what the Prince really was. Beast, killer, savage, boar. 

The day went on as usual, but Felix couldn’t help the nagging feeling that he was missing out on something. But it was clear that was not. He saw Ingrid at the stables and Ashe in the library. Mercedes and Annette were in the dining hall for cooking duty. He even came across Dedue alone in the Knight’s Hall. 

Curiosity got the better of him and he found himself wandering all over the monastery, searching for his classmate and the professor. He couldn’t find either of them anywhere, even after casually strolling by their open dormitory doors. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much, other than the fact that this was a break in the routine. He didn’t spend much time with his class outside of training or class except on their birthdays. The fact that they were ignoring one made his skin prickle in discomfort, until he found them. 

The Professor and Dimitri were tucked away in a corner of the monastery having tea, a small birthday cake on the table between them. Dimitri was beaming and Felix understood. His birthday had been a big event his entire life and once he left here to take the throne it would be once again. 

As his gift, Felix left the Prince be. 

**Guardian Moon, Day 4.**

It wasn’t nearly as cold as Faerghus, but there was a definite chill in the air on the day of Ingrid’s birthday. They chose to hold it inside the dining hall between meals. A few students from other houses filtered in and out, some stopped to talk to the professor for a few minutes before being on their way. 

Felix found himself helping Ashe and Dedue in the kitchen, his task was to run food from them to its place on the tables. Luckily he didn’t have to deal with the arrangement, as Mercedes was taking care of the presentation. 

“Careful, Felix.” Mercedes chided when he carelessly dropped a plate onto the table. He offered a huff in acknowledgement, returning to his post to wait for the next item to come off the stove or out of the oven. 

There was more food here than perhaps all of the other parties combined, simply because that was what Ingrid liked. No one ever said anything to her, he may have once when they were children only to be roundly scolded by his father, but they all noticed how much she enjoyed eating. 

“Where is Ingrid?” Felix questioned the professor when there was a lull in the preparations. 

“Sylvain is keeping her busy today, I can only imagine what that means.” Dimitri spoke up from the professor’s other side, stood on a chair to hang a couple of paper streamers. 

“He might not make it to the party.” Felix huffed back, arms crossed. Ingrid was most likely chasing Sylvain around town as he caused problems on purpose. If she got her hands on him, it was likely he may not be alive much longer. 

Dimitri and the professor laughed together then, which caused Felix to look at them in surprise. He hadn’t realized that he was making a joke. He set his mouth in a scowl, if for no other reason as not to smile along with them. He was still a firm believer that there was no point to all of this, not with everything else that needed to be done. Or at least, that was what he was going to tell himself. 

“Felix!” Ashe held up a plate of meat in the already crowded kitchen space and Felix crossed the room to grab the plate, this time handing it off to Mercedes directly instead of just dropping it on the table. 

It all came together quickly after that, piles of food spread over ever surface. When Ingrid arrived, screeching and red-faced with one hand curled into the back of Sylvain’s tunic and the other raised as if to attempt a knockout, Felix looked at the floor and grinned. 

**Pegasus Moon, Day 20.**

Felix kept his eyes on all his classmates from the moment he awoke far earlier than the rest of them. He got his training in while the rest of them were still asleep, spending the day circling the monastery and doing a headcount. 

He didn’t want any stupid surprise or meal prepared for him on his birthday. He had no desire to celebrate the day he used to spend playing with his new toys with Glenn. That had been so many years ago but the memory was still as fresh as ever. He saw ingrid at the stables in the early hours of the morning. She wished him a happy birthday and he nearly growled at her before skulking away. Sylvain was lingering around a group of girls in the courtyard, all of them batting their eyes and giggling at him. Dedue was in the greenhouse, Ashe in his room, Annette in the library. Mercedes was in the cathedral, Dimitri was in the Knight’s Hall. 

“Felix. Have tea with me.” The professor appeared almost out of nowhere, and held up a small basket of pastries and tea leaves. “I know you already trained today.” 

“I have other thing-” 

“It’s my own tradition that I have tea with each of my pupils on their birthday. You won’t deny me this, will you, Felix?”

“Fine.” 

Tea with the professor would have been nice if he hadn’t been so worried about what his classmates were plotting behind his back. However as the day wore on and he could consistently find one or more of his classmates scattered around, he relaxed. The professor most likely planned something as they did for Dimitri’s birthday. Nothing extravagant or over the top, just as Felix had wanted. He would maybe have liked a spicy meal or a spar, but the tea had been pleasant enough despite his distaste for the pastries. 

He actually found that he had more time in his day than he had planned for, considering how early he had risen to get his training out of the way to monitor his classmates. Felix rolled his shoulders and turned towards the training grounds, he’d get in some exercise before dinner. 

The walk to the grounds was quiet, apart from a couple of dogs snuffling around the cobblestones. Perfect. It was peaceful and quiet, the walk allowing him to get himself set in the correct headspace for his upcoming workout. He shoved against the doors and blinked in surprise at the sight before him. His classmates were gathered, all of them holding wooden weapons and sparring with one another. 

The smell of spice reached him and he glanced to the side, realizing that there was a small table set up with several of his favorite meals. None of his classmates wished him a happy birthday or acknowledged that anything they were doing was out of the norm, but each of them (however reluctantly) stepped up to spar with him, even those that weren’t inclined to use a sword. 

After beating all of his classmates and very narrowly losing to the professor, Felix sat off to the side with a plate of his favorite food in his lap. He came to the conclusion that in the end, birthdays might not be totally unnecessary.

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted 2/2/2020 i felt the need to give each "chapter" it's own fic because they are so different and i want more people to view my range


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